


On Your Side

by ItWasIDio, notidio (ItWasIDio)



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Magic, Romance, Secret Relationship, Sibling Bonding, Sylas is a creepy janitor, What more do you need?, pretty much every natural mage is going to get at least a mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22412983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItWasIDio/pseuds/ItWasIDio, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItWasIDio/pseuds/notidio
Summary: When Lux accidentally lets out her magic during lunch one day, she's convinced her life is over, that everyone would find out the secret she's built her life around hiding just because of one stupid mistake. But, to her surprise, it's nowhere near the end for the young mage. Met with the acceptance and kindness she never expected over her blunder, if anything, Lux's life only begins after her mistake. But, being accepted isn't enough when your very existence is a crime. Lux needs to do more, and with an army by her side, change seems more possible than ever. All that's left is deciding how to do it.(It's basically a high school au of Demacia's civil war, but with a lot more champs and a lot more romance. Like, a lot more romance.)
Relationships: Luxanna "Lux" Crownguard/Jinx, Miss Sarah Fortune/Fiora Laurent, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 11
Kudos: 50





	1. Two Feet Away

**Author's Note:**

> wuzzup! I am here to make everyone a lesbian and write about magic! It should be noted that Lux isn't gonna be the center of attention for too long, but she's definitely a key character in everything I have planned. Don't expect this to be much more than the concept of the whole Demacian mage plotline bc boy am I gonna take a lot of liberties in a bit! For now, though, enjoy cute romance and sibling bonding with just a dash of pain :D

3 things to never, ever, ever do in high school:  
1\. Hang out with the “losers”  
2\. Reveal that you are a freak/loser  
3\. Leave the assignment you’ve been working nonstop on for the past week at home

Things Lux has done today:  
1\. All of the above

Needless to say, Lux was not having a good day. The cafeteria had all eyes on her as she stared down at her burnt mashed potatoes, tears welling in her eyes and the comforting hand of the school’s resident freak on her shoulder. Her hand was still hovering over the plate, fingernails just a bit too bright to be natural. Jinx was saying something to her, reaching for her hand, a few fingers still stroking Lux’s shoulder like she was holding down a scared dog, and-

Before anyone could get another good look at her, Lux was running from the cafeteria, hearing nothing more than a few stray shouts behind her. No accusations of anything unnatural, though. She wasn’t even sure if anyone got a good enough look to see what happened, so there wasn’t much point in worrying… yet. Oh, if her aunt heard a word about this, Lux doubted she’d ever see the light of day again. How tragically ironic.

She wasn’t even paying attention to where she was going before looking up and realizing she had found herself in the bathroom. It seemed empty, but she hid away in one of the stalls just to be safe. Lux had been keeping her magic down for a good while, and it seemed just about ready to burst from her. In fact, it did back in the cafeteria, and what a sight that was. And she always liked the mashed potatoes, too. Before she could stop it, Lux found herself sobbing over the toilet, staring down at her hands with enough anger and sadness to scare her magic into hiding.

It was hard to tell how long she was crying, but only when her tears started to slow and her breathing fell into shallow hiccups did anything break the silence outside her stall. The bathroom door creaked open, and Lux tried to quiet her crying completely, but she was just a second too late. A familiar voice called out to her, jingling footsteps coming closer. She didn’t reply, hoping Jinx would just go away and leave her to wallow, but the girl was persistent. 

“Lux, I know you’re in there. Don’t make me crawl under the door. I will. You know I will.” Yeah, she did. But… maybe there was a chance she could just wait it out, and- Nope, Lux saw Jinx begin to wiggle under the gap between the door and floor only seconds later. It was easy work given how small the girl was, and suddenly they were both in that tiny stall, standing so close Lux could smell the mixture of mint, tobacco, and not burnt mashed potatoes on Jinx’s breath. 

“Hey,” Jinx said, gentler than Lux had ever heard her. 

“Hi.” They just stood there for a minute, Lux not daring to look into those bright pink eyes for fear that it would make today as real as it probably was. Eventually, Jinx reached out, her bony white hands reaching for Lux once more. She tried to pull them away, but the bathroom stall was suddenly a lot smaller. One step back and she’d be sitting in the toilet. There was nowhere to go but towards Jinx, and then they were both standing there, hands clasped together and looking at each other eye to eye.

Jinx, for the first time as far as Lux knew, actually seemed nervous. “Lux, are you…”

“A freak? Abomination? Unnatural? Dangerous? Sure I am,” she replied, her face scrunched with pain and anger and how unfair it was that she had to deal with this. 

“Lux, no, are you okay?”

She wasn’t sure how to reply, so she didn’t, but that was probably enough of an answer. Everyone knew mages were just… wrong. Lux let out a sigh, leaning into Jinx and letting her tears fall onto the girl’s thin shirt. It wasn’t that comfortable, pillowed by her twig thin friend with more spiky accessories than were reasonable while standing in a tiny bathroom stall, but it was comforting. “Thanks, Jinx. I needed this,” she mumbled into the girl’s shoulder.

“Do you want me to, like, call Garen or anything? I know he doesn’t like me, but if it’s about you, I’m sure he’d listen.”

Oh, now that was not about to happen. “Don’t tell him a word about what happened today. If he finds out I’m- you know,” Lux gestured around with her hands rather than daring to say the word, and Jinx nodded in understanding before Lux went on. “Well, more accurately, if Aunt Tianna finds out from Garen, it… won’t be pretty.”

“Alright, that’s fine, Lux. If you need anything, though, just let ol’ Jinxxy know. I mean, your crime is nothing compared to everything I’ve done!”

Despite the decidedly not reassuring way Jinx comforted her, Lux found herself laughing at the words. Jinx had a point, after all. The girl’s extensive history of arson, defacement of public property, underage drinking and smoking, theft, and everything else was definitely not as bad as a crime Lux couldn’t even control her commitment of. Everything was going to be okay, and if not? There’d always be a place for her with the other criminals.

“Now let’s get to class, you light-up skecher. Bell rang like ten minutes ago.” Lux looked up at Jinx like a suffocating fish at that, pulling out Jinx’s trademark laughter that was as booming as the bombs everyone suspected she kept in her backpack. “Nah, I’m fucking with you. We’ve still got like 5 minutes… okay, 4 now.”

Lux rolled her eyes, but she was smiling all the same. Her bag was still in the cafeteria, and the place was probably cleared out enough now to not draw too much attention to her re-entrance. The two of them left the bathroom and walked side by side to the cafeteria, and no one even spared Lux a glance. Everything really did feel okay again.

Classes went fine enough, though Lux was going to lose 5 points on that assignment she forgot. Oh well, could be worse. Everyone could find out she’s a mage from her blunder earlier and lock her away, after all. Could always be worse. She managed to avoid any questions about what happened earlier, everyone more concerned with why she ran out of the cafeteria crying than what that weird flash of light was apparently, but she wasn’t going to answer about either part. No one even wondered why she was hanging out with Jinx!

Lux was almost ready to believe she blew the whole thing out of proportion and no one actually cared about her mistakes, but then she got home.

The first sign something was wrong was Garen sitting at the table, hands clasped together and piercing eyes staring down Lux as soon as she walked inside. She tried to act natural as she moved past him, but her hands got clammy and her cheeks hot under the gaze. Someone had to have told him something, he had to know now and was just waiting to tell her she was getting kicked out of the house and how disappointed he was in her for being a mage. 

Lux was a mere two feet from the stairs, where sweet salvation would lie away from her brother’s eyes when she’d lock herself away in her room. Just two more feet and she would’ve been safe. Then, Garen spoke, freezing her to the spot.

“Lux, we need to talk about something.”

It was with a painful slowness that Lux turned around, eyes cast to the ground as she approached her brother. She didn’t make it to the stairs in time. That same thought kept running through her head as she sat down at the table, preparing to accept her fate. This was it. It was all over, and all just because of two feet she couldn’t make it past. 

Garen let the silence carry on for a little while longer, staring his sister down, looking for a sign of magic no doubt. Then, his expression fell from that ever serious frown to something a bit gentler, worry replacing scrutinization. “Lux, I heard you ran out of lunch today. Some people were even saying you were crying. What happened?”

“Oh, that? Just, uh, bad food? My stomach had been, you know, acting up, and- This is pretty embarrassing, actually. Can we not talk about this? Please?” Okay, so maybe he didn’t know yet, there was still a chance for Lux to lie her way out of this. She had been doing it this long, what were a few more lies?

He didn’t seem keen on letting go of the issue, gaze still holding steady as he answered, “Yeah, I heard your food was burnt, too. Doesn’t sound very appetizing. Still, don’t you think it’s weird?”

“What’s weird about it?” She didn’t meet his gaze anymore.

“That only yours was burnt. Everyone thought it was strange who told me, but I reassured them. Just a stroke of bad luck when getting your food, huh? Nothing else going on there. You even took a picture of it, flash on of course. You always forget to turn it off, after all.” 

Lux’s eyes were boring into the floor at that point, her cheeks burning and tears beading at her eyes. He knew. He always knew, didn’t he? There wasn’t any point in lying anymore. Once more, Garen asked, “Lux, what happened?”

“Is Aunt Tianna home?”

“She doesn’t get home until six today. Don’t worry, I made sure nothing got back to her.”

With a sigh, Lux realized there wasn’t any more avoiding it. At the very least, this took the burden of lying to her brother off her shoulders. That part was always just a little more painful. “I hadn’t had an incident with my magic in… a couple of months, at least. I thought I was, you know, getting better at controlling it. Turns out, though, I was just suppressing it too much.”

“So it burst out?” he asked, expression soft for once. She nodded, suddenly a lot less afraid to talk about it. Garen wasn’t here to judge her, to hate her. How could her brother ever hate her, after all? Lux felt silly for her concerns earlier, and she almost smiled as she continued.

“Like a firecracker in a glass bottle. I was, you know, stressed and having a bad day and everything just felt ready to fall apart. I sat down to eat, was reaching for my fork, then one of my, uh, friends came up to me and was just… She made me nervous, I guess, and then I was so overwhelmed that I guess my magic decided it didn’t want to be stuck inside me when I was feeling so terrible, and bam, you’ve got burnt mashed potatoes.” Lux leaned back with a sigh, something about recounting the events, truly solidifying them as she heard herself, was both exhausting and relieving. But mostly exhausting.

Garen watched her for a moment. Then, he reached forward and ruffled her hair, a smile on his face. “You’ll be fine,” he reassured, and he sounded so sure that she didn’t think she had a choice in believing him. Then, as he pulled his hand away, leaving Lux’s finely combed hair a mess, he opened his mouth just a bit, his face losing its humor. “Someone said-” he started, then cut himself off.

“Nevermind. Don’t let this happen again, Lux,” he said with his special brand of Garen-seriousness, and just like that the moment was gone. Garen got up from the table, leaving for his room and eradicating the warm atmosphere he created for his sister. She was left there, sad and confused at the change in attitude and the sentence he never got to finish. Lux understood, though. Whether he accepted her magic or not was never the problem, the problem was that she had to keep it a secret, and the easiest way to do that was for her and Garen to both pretend they didn’t know. That distance he was making was for the best, definitely.

Probably. Whatever, she had homework. She left the kitchen table, crossed those two feet that didn’t seem so bad anymore, and locked herself away in her room to write that history report.


	2. A Personal Revolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lux snaps (and it's only chapter two!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! This is where we get into some actual plot!! As such, I'm gonna go ahead and lay out some of the rules and qualifications I'm using to define natural mages (you've got a few in this one, but I didn't name any student mages, just implied who they were):  
> 1\. Void creatures, my hextech peeps, demons, etc. will not count as mages  
> 2\. Ascended, Aspects, Demigods, Yordles, Vastayans, and Spirits will be more of a case by case basis (like, Diana and Ornn won't count as mages but Xerath and Janna will)  
> 3\. Any human explicitly said to have magic will almost definitely be included (except maybe Annie)!  
> 4\. If you wanna know if someone specific is gonna be included, just ask! Or if you want an explanation of how I'm deciding, you can ask about that, too.

After the cafeteria “incident”, things seemed to go back to normal for Lux. Garen was minding his own business, Aunt Tianna didn’t seem any more suspicious than usual, her classmates weren’t organizing witch hunts. It was almost like the whole thing never happened.

Jinx didn’t fail to remind her of it, of course. Since finding out about the girl’s light magic, she had taken to subtle jokes anywhere she could fit them, but it mostly came down to calling her a human lighter then making her light a cigarette or two. Lux didn’t mind that much, and Jinx never did it around others (it’s not like they were ever near other people for her to, though). Still, the casual way the girl talked about it, the easy jokes, it almost made Lux feel normal. For the first time in years, Lux didn’t feel like a freak of nature.

Then, he showed up. Tall, muscular, charming, and dangerous. She first heard about him from Cithria, a freshman at the school who was just gossiping to Lux as an attempt to get closer to Garen. The girl’s crush was cute if its subject wasn’t so gross to Lux, but they were still awkwardly classified as friends. Which is the only reason Lux listened when Cithria spouted out the story of their new janitor.

“I think his name is Sylas, just started today,” the girl said, eyes wide and bright as she reveled in Lux’s full attention. “The old janitor, Yorick, I heard he got fired for killing someone. That’s just a rumor, but…”

Lux was skeptical of the idea, having not even heard about Yorick getting fired before Cithria told her, and he always seemed nice to her. Who would he even kill? Cithria seemed to know what Lux was thinking, continuing with, “Yeah, I don’t know who he would’ve killed or why or anything! But, all my friends like the new guy. We talked to him this morning, and he’s super charming. Cute, too.”

Yeah, she wasn’t too keen on finding school staff hot. Lux let out a chuckle at what Cithria said just to make the girl feel better before heading off to class, and not another word was said about the new janitor.

Until lunch, that is. Then every word was said about him. There wasn’t an official announcement or anything about the change in staff, but rumors travelled quick, and just about everyone knew all the details of Yorick’s replacement by then. Conversations ranged from tales of horror about who the creepy old man killed to tales of passion on the stray wink the newest janitor sent a young maiden. Almost everyone agreed with two things, though: Yorick totally would’ve killed someone, and Sylas was totally a hunk.

Lux was an outlier there. Sure, she hadn’t seen the new janitor yet, but she doubted some old guy could really be that hot. Plus, Yorick was, albeit weird, one of the nicest people she knew. There was no way he just snapped and killed someone… probably. Whatever, it wasn’t her business. Her business was with a chicken nugget lunch and a side of not talking about any rumors.

She had managed to make it through all her afternoon classes without incident, all up until she was leaving her last one of the day. The teacher was still shouting out reminders to do the homework as she left, Lux giving the obligatory goodbyes to anyone who passed her. She was popular enough for them all to say bye to her, but not popular enough to really call a single one of them friends. Still, it was undeniable that Lux was at least well-known around the school.

As such, she really didn’t think much about the group of kids watching her leave. They might’ve just recognized her and couldn’t remember from where, or maybe there was some gossip about her they were talking about. It didn’t matter, whatever it was, until Lux heard a soft voice say the word “magic”, and suddenly that group was all that mattered. 

When she flew around to face them at the word, most of them were still watching her. They probably saw the panic in her eyes, probably knew her deepest secrets just from that reaction, but her mind was elsewhere. Lux looked over the group, only about five or six kids and most ones she didn’t even recognize. Probably freshmen, but a few looked to be in higher grades. She thought she recognized one boy from Garen’s class, but she couldn’t remember much else about him or anyone else there. 

Before she could think better of it, Lux was walking to the group, eyes still trained straight ahead. They kept watching her, but most had stopped talking once she started toward them. It wasn’t until Lux was directly in front of them and the silence had stretched just long enough to make her question the decision that anyone spoke up.

“Luxanna Crownguard, correct?” an unfamiliar voice asked, gruff and decidedly not that of a high schooler. Lux located the source as a man with a scruffy yet defined face, slicked-back dark hair, and a greyish-blue uniform identifying him as the new janitor. And he already knew her name.

She hesitated before nodding to confirm her identity, and he broke out into a wide, deep smile at the gesture. “Wonderful! We’ve been waiting for you, you know.” At that, he waved his arms over the group, and they all agreed with the assertion as he did. Okay… not creepy at all. 

“Why… were you waiting for me?” Lux asked, subtly backing away from the group. A tingle began in her stomach that was quickly growing into a tumor of panic. Something here was definitely not right, and her flight or fight response was already kicking in. The tumor of panic settled in full when she felt someone grab her arm, holding her in place. 

Sylas still had that huge smile on his face as he answered, but it felt more sinister now. “Because you have something special to offer us, Little Light. Something… unique.” His eyes were warm and inviting and terrifying as he spoke, and maybe Cithria had a point, he wasn’t that bad to look at, but he was so close and was he getting closer and-

His hand gripped Lux’s shoulder, and someone else- that boy from Garen’s class, she was pretty sure- was still holding her other arm, and she finally tore her gaze away from Sylas’s dark eyes long enough to see that his attention was fully on that hand. It didn’t move from her shoulder for another few moments, but when it did, Lux was overtaken by a shocking coldness. She almost felt drained, hollow just from the contact. That feeling of danger persisted inside her, but she was too weak to answer it. The boy holding her arm was now fully stabilizing her, but his attention was straight ahead. Everyone in the circle was watching Sylas, and it took Lux a dizzying moment to process why.

He was glowing. Like, literally glowing. His hand, the one that had been holding Lux, was engulfed by a circle of light so concentrated it hurt to even look towards. She flinched at the sight after glancing over, but the panic that overtook her forced her to look back, to confirm her fears. That… was her magic. Her light. “You… you took my magic?” Lux mumbled out, and the man laughed.

“Borrowed, darling. Don’t worry, you’ll get it back. But, now you see. This,” Sylas held out his hand, a small singularity of light formed in it, “is your magic. And this...” he continued, reaching to another of the students. His hand wrapped around the arm of the boy holding Lux, and as she found her strength again, he lost his. Their positions were reversed with Lux now stabilizing the boy, but he showed no concern over his weakness. Sylas was suddenly shooting out flames, and Lux watched with horror and amazement as he said, “This is his magic. And mine. All of your magic is all of my magic if you so choose.”

He went around the circle, repeating how each one was both his and theirs, demonstrating each person’s unique magic. Lux’s light, the other boy’s fire, another’s ice, and so on until almost all of them had been displayed. Some were so much brighter than even Lux’s, some so strong she could feel their power radiating from the man, and all of them were so different. She could hardly believe they were all, just, magic. And Sylas had access to every single one of them, just by the touch of his hand. A shudder ran through her body as she contemplated the man. 

“So, your magic… is just stealing other people’s?” Lux asked after the awe had begun to wear off. The others in the group, still recuperating from the magic drain, seemed to be interested in the answer as well. Good, so she wasn’t the only one confused. Though they were almost definitely more in the know than her, they did seem just as amazed by Sylas’s little show with their abilities. Maybe they didn’t know the full extent or what each of the others was capable of?

Sylas let out a little sigh at the question, shaking his head sadly as he replied, “No, no, my Little Light. I borrow your magic. Stealing would imply I keep it. Plus, that isn’t all I’m capable of.” Oh, so he did have magic of his own? Lux leaned in a little closer at the admission, hardly even realizing until she had already done it.

“Aren’t you curious about how we knew of your light? From what I’ve heard, you let some out a few days ago, but I promise you it wasn’t from something as silly as that.” Not from the cafeteria incident? She thought for sure it’d have been that if anything. Or that she had just given herself away by approaching them, but apparently Sylas already knew about her magic. Maybe… someone told him? She doubted Garen would tell someone like him, but Jinx… No, she wouldn’t do that to Lux.

Would she?

Sylas interrupted her thoughts, taking enough pity on the girl to explain. “Don’t worry, no one here ratted you out but yourself, Little Light. You see, I can borrow magic from others, but I can also sense it from within people. It’s how I found all of you, each shining so bright with your own potential. I want to use my powers to help you realize that potential.” Lux had to hold back her sigh of relief at the real answer, pure relief washing over her at Jinx not spilling her secret. Of course, how could she ever doubt the girl like that? She felt dumb for even thinking it, now. For all her faults, Jinx was still one of the most loyal and honest people she knew.

“So, how are we going to reach our, uh, potential from this?” a small voice asked from the group. Lux recognized the girl as one who didn’t get her powers shown, but she was almost certain that was one of Cithria’s friends. It’d be nice if she ever bothered to learn their names right now.

“I’m so glad you asked, little sparrow. So very glad. You all are wrought with powerful magic already, and honing it is your own burden, but I can help you use it. I can help you use it freely, even. Together, with my ability combined with all of yours, we could stage a revolution. Wouldn’t that be nice? To be free, to be open, to be true to yourselves as the mages you are? No longer hiding, cowering, keeping your brightest lights in shadows?” Sylas’s voice was silken and imbued with such passion Lux found herself entranced by it, her mind agreeing to his words before even processing them. Even as he addressed every mage there, it felt as if he were speaking directly to Lux, like he knew exactly what she wanted to hear.

It was too good to be true, and Lux knew that, but he made it sound so very appealing to just agree. They shouldn’t have to hide away like this, and here he was offering a chance for them to stop and be free. But, if they failed… And what cost would a victory come at? Most of the group seemed just as conflicted as her, honeyed words swaying them to one side and harsh realities to the other. Sylas sensed this and continued, his voice getting louder and louder as he spoke.

“You all may think of the worst scenarios now, may hesitate at the idea of fighting back, but remember the torment they have put us through! Mages are forced to hide who they are, to bury their identity for years just because the pigs in charge are afraid of what we can do. Well, why don’t we remind them of why they feared us? Remind them why they are beneath us? We can rise up, take this world for ourselves, create a new world that embraces magic rather than suppresses it! All you have to do,” he held out his arms, inviting anyone brave enough to stand by him, “is join me.”

Some immediately stepped forward, eyes ablaze with Sylas’s passion as they proudly stood by him, promises of the world to come still ringing in their ears. Others hesitated, their conflicts shown in wavering stances and pained expressions, before making up their minds and going to Sylas. Not a single person backed away, but Lux had still not decided. Once everyone else had chosen to follow, all eyes were on her to await a response. She looked over them, took a step forward at last, and then-

“Lux! There you are,” a booming voice rang out from behind her. Before she could turn to see who it was, a large hand grabbed her arm and began pulling her away. The group only watched as Garen arrived to drag her off, away from the decision she had finally been ready to make. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. We were supposed to be home ten minutes ago, young lady! Now, let’s go.”

She didn’t fight back as he dragged her along, something about his stern face and harsh footsteps stopping her from resisting. Lux had told him she was going to walk home today, and Garen never forgot things like that. How much had he seen earlier, then? Anything more than a few minutes, he’d probably be furious. His grip tightened on her arm as they made it out the front door. Definitely furious.

Garen didn’t speak again until they were nearly at his car, and his words were ground so tightly together Lux couldn’t even make them out. “What was that?” she asked, and she hated the waver in her voice.

“I said I don’t want to see you around that man again. He’s dangerous, Lux,” Garen said, refusing to look at her as he unlocked his car. He was definitely pissed, but for once, so was Lux. 

“And just what makes you say that, Garen?” she asked, baiting out the answer she knew was there. He started to speak, but hesitated, a scowl coming onto his face.

Garen had the car door unlocked and open now, but neither of them moved to get in. Finally, he turned to her and answered, “He’s not safe to be around. You can’t trust him, Lux. He’s a-”

“What? A mage? Is that why you’re scared, Garen? He’s stronger than you, can do more. He’s a threat to you maybe, but he’s here to help me,” she shot at him, her face flushed with anger. A part of her knew Garen was right, and she really didn’t believe a word she was saying, but heck if she’d tell him that. He wasn’t allowed to be right this time, not about this. This was Lux’s fight.

Garen didn’t reply this time, the anger draining from his face and replacing with exhaustion. He huffed before climbing into the car, and Lux finally moved to do the same. “If you feel so strongly about it, then fine. Go with that man, get thrown into jail, see if I care. But, don’t ever,” he turned to her and waited until they were staring eye to eye to continue, “ever think I hate you over this. You might be a mage, but you’re still my sister.”

It was an oddly heartfelt end to a very not heartfelt argument, but Lux was still seething at Garen’s words. She was a mage, sure, but what was so wrong about that? He just didn’t get it, and he probably never would. They drove in silence after that, Lux refusing to reply to Garen’s final admission. She didn’t even turn on the radio, and it was the most awkward six minutes of her life as they headed home.

Lux didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly, afraid of what would happen if she broke the pure silence built up in the car. By the time they got home, she was shaking with anticipation to get out of there and as far away from Garen as possible. He had hardly even stopped the car when she dove out and raced to her room, finally taking a good breath from the comfort of her bedroom. 

She collapsed onto her bed after casting aside her backpack, books sadly thumping against the wall before leaning to the ground in defeat. Lux hardly spared them a glance as she buried her face in the soft white pillow neatly laid out. Let them get a little roughed up, what did it matter? They were still readable.

Lux was lying facedown on her pillow as she listened to Garen’s heavy footsteps pace around just one room over. He was always antsy when he was stressed, and normally, Lux would try to comfort or distract him when he couldn’t sit still like this, but not this time. If she understood any of what was going on right now, his stress could be entirely attributed to her. And for once, she decided that wasn’t her problem.

When she was still in that same position minutes later, her legs almost asleep and a trail of drool pooling at the corner of her lip, Garen finally stopped stomping around, probably sitting down to distract himself with homework or something. Lux sat up and looked over to her forgotten backpack as she contemplated doing the same. On one hand, she still hadn’t finished that report. On the other, it was a bit harder to distract yourself when you were the problem itself.

Making up her mind, Lux bypassed her books and instead found her phone, flipping to a familiar contact with nothing but muscle memory. Then, as she sat back in bed in a much more maintainable position, her finger hovered over the call button. Then to the text button. Then to the back button. And so the cycle went, a total five rotations before Lux looked up as if her mind was finally made. She got up and stared down the door before locking it. Better safe than sorry.

She sat back down and went back to her cycle, letting out a withering sigh as she stared at Jinx’s contact picture. It was a nice photo, taken only a few months ago on a late night at the park. The skinny girl was smoking a cigarette and staring off into the distance, a mischievous gleam in her eyes lit only by orange streetlights. Jinx had insisted on the photo, claiming she looked too cool and mysterious to not be immortalized on camera. And she really would’ve looked cool if not for the goofy grin she had struck at the last minute.

Right after Lux took the photo, Jinx had burst into laughter over how serious she felt posing like that. Lux offered to take another one, but the other girl decided she looked cool enough smiling, so that was the one taken and immortalized. They ended up staying out all night after that, just ambling through the park and talking until Lux saw the crack of dawn and realized she was screwed. 

“Needed to be home earlier than 5?” Jinx asked, nudging Lux’s shoulder as she held up her phone with the time staring back at them.

“I wasn’t even supposed to be out in the first place.” Lux eyed the direction her house was in with worry, knowing what would await her if Aunt Tianna found out how late she had been out. 

Jinx dropped her smile for once, leaning in and whispering with a deadly seriousness, “Hey, if you need, I can just pretend someone kidnapped you or something, maybe you were roped into a crime? Car wreck? Mugging?”

Lux shot her a glare rather than actually answering, then Jinx took her hand and started walking to the house, forcing Lux to head back whether she liked it or not. And she did not. Lux struggled against the grip, but Jinx had a lot of hidden strength for someone who looked like just skin and bones. The girl turned back to Lux with her signature grin, commenting, “If you won’t let me cover for your rebellious lifestyle, at least let me walk you home.”

It didn’t take long for Lux to relent, and they walked back in comfortable silence, still hand in hand. Once they arrived at Lux’s house, Jinx took the hand she was holding and leaned in to kiss it, lips cold and chapped by the night air still somehow so soft against Lux’s hand, before curtseying with an, “And now I must bid you adieu, my lady.” A blush coated Lux’s cheeks at the gesture, and her giddy smile didn’t drop until she was inside and greeted by the cold eyes of her aunt.

That was the day she was told Jinx “wouldn’t be a welcome influence any longer.” The joyous warmth in Lux had drained and been replaced with a deep cold at those words, and she remembered the pure rage Jinx expressed when she found out. The girl punched a wall so hard she broke two fingers, and Lux couldn’t even help her when she struggled with the cast. At that part of the memory, Lux found herself hovering over the back button a few seconds longer.

“This is stupid. I’m stupid,” Lux declared to the empty room, leaning back in defeat as she stared up at the stark white ceiling. She put down the phone and looked around the room, almost everything perfectly neat and organized. Her pillow was wrinkled and out of place from how long she had laid on it earlier, and her backpack was still crumpled in the corner. The only two flaws in her otherwise clean room. 

An idea overtaking her, Lux walked up to her desk and picked up a pile of papers. They were applications for scholarships her aunt had spent hours printing out and organizing, none for colleges Lux had any interest in attending. She scattered them around the desk, still careful to keep any off the floor. Slowly, cautiously, she knocked a small figurine onto its side, now resting over the strewn papers. Stepping back, she admired her handiwork. It didn’t look that bad, but it still wasn’t enough.

She turned to her bed this time, the cotton sheets still in place but a little crumpled. Lux didn’t waste any time on this one, tearing the covers from their neatly tucked position and ruffling them up, now spread out around the bed. Her hands rubbed around the sheets until they were decently wrinkled, and she decided that’d be enough there.

Lux didn’t stop at her bed and desk though, throwing around clothes and shoes, knocking books off shelves, even taking the time to ruin her finely-crafted appearance until her room was hardly recognizable as that pristine image of the perfect space. Now surrounded by chaos, hair tangled and frizzy, and with half the clothes she started in, Lux turned back to her phone and pressed the call button without a second thought.

Jinx picked up on the first ring, her scratchy voice echoing in the room. “What’s up, Luxxy? Need some homework help? To get on a cop’s good side? Talk about your feelings?”

“Not this time, Jinx. Where are you right now?” Lux asked, once more taking in the newfound chaos of her room. She liked it.

“...Why?” The hesitation was obvious in Jinx’s voice, but Lux wouldn’t even care if the girl was burying a dead body right now. She just needed to see her.

Lux was already out of her room and heading to the front door when Jinx had asked. It didn’t matter where the girl was, Lux was going there. She stepped out and, as an afterthought, headed back in to get the car keys. Just to avoid any unnecessary panic, she wrote a quick note saying she was leaving for a bit, finishing it off with a smiley face for good measure. After climbing into the car and ensuring the engines could be heard over the phone, Lux answered the question as simply as she could.

“I’m coming to see my girlfriend, of course.” Jinx choked out in surprise on the other end of the phone, Lux confidently smiling at the sound. They had never really defined their relationship, but Lux knew what she wanted now. Jinx finally answered with an address, and Lux was heading there before she even finished the street name. Lux was done faking perfection, and this was just the beginning of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sylas DOES eat rats in this that's still canon. Also, I'm thinking about changing the story name to Honeycomb from the song by Eva Tolkin? Been listening to it on repeat while writing this and it's super cute. Lemme know what you guys think of it, and if I decide to, expect that change by the time I finish the next chapter!


	3. A Lesson in Cover Stories and Covering Stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow sorry for taking, like, forever for this. I've honestly gone through like 5 different versions of this chapter and just haven't been happy with any of them, so I decided to just slap down what I needed to move along the story. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take nearly as long. It's not even that I've been busy or didn't know what I wanted out of this chapter, I'm just lazy tbh. Anyway time for girls kissing and the start of a revolution!!!

After hanging up with Lux, Jinx looked over at where Janna sat, her attention fully on- what was this, anyway?- some weird cartoon that was definitely not geared to people Jinx’s age, let alone the other girl’s. “Hey, my girlfriend’s coming over. That cool?”

Janna didn’t even look up as she replied, “You have a girlfriend?” The idea of some random girl Jinx deemed worthy of her presence coming into the older girl’s home didn’t seem to bother her much, though, so Jinx didn’t answer the question and didn’t press for answers to her own. Her eye caught an explosion that lit up the TV screen, and Jinx decided, little kid cartoon or not, maybe watching for a bit wouldn’t hurt. Janna was all too happy to detail the entire plot up to this point to her friend as they began the next episode together, cramped on her couch with a bag of chips in front of them.

They were three explosions in- Jinx refused to quantify the show by anything else, but she’s pretty sure she only saw credits roll once- when a knock sounded at the door. Janna glanced at her expectedly, as if Jinx was the one here who needed to go open the door instead of watching this sick fight scene. “Your house, your door, windy,” she said, waving away the other girl.

“Your girlfriend, your responsibility, boomy,” Janna replied in her airy and calm voice that was just not meant to mirror Jinx’s words like that. Jinx would bring it up later, but for now, she had to get up and open the door because one of the very few people Jinx didn’t want to blow up was behind it. At the very least, Janna had the decency to pause her show, but by this point, it was just boring talking and exposition Jinx didn’t want to watch anyway. 

Jinx threw open the door, expecting to see her prim and proper girlfriend waiting there, probably glancing around Janna’s not very nice house and preparing some believable compliments on what a lovely place it was because that’s just how she was. Granted, Jinx would be a big fat liar if she tried to say anything negative about that habit because it was just so Lux-like and therefore likable. What she did not expect to see was this disheveled mess of a girl staring down the door with her arms crossed, her face colder than it ever was to Jinx before.

“Uh, heya, Luxxy. What’d you wanna see me for?” Jinx asks, stepping aside to let her girlfriend in. Her girlfriend did not come in and instead began to kiss her. That was… definitely a new one, Jinx thought after a moment of shock, but hell if she was gonna turn down a makeout session that was undoubtedly bothering Janna. Lux’s lips were a bit colder than expected and chapped like she had been chewing at them, and even though she was a few inches shorter than Jinx, she was holding Jinx down for the kiss. It felt longer than it probably was, but before Jinx knew it, Lux was pulling away and heading into the house.

The kiss had been quick, unexpected, and demanding, when any time before this that Jinx had kissed Lux, it had always been so much warmer, almost apologetic. It wasn’t exactly an unwelcome change- Jinx would never complain about a cute girl dominating their kisses like that, and who would?- but it was a very abrupt change. And, even as Jinx came back inside and sat beside Lux and Janna (both of them were already watching that stupid kids show together, not even bothering to learn each other’s names or have a little conversation first), she couldn’t help the rising concern that was dripping into her brain. Jinx elected to ignore said concern dripping in until it was done surrounding her brain and all her little brainy bits were drowning in it and dying off, instead focusing her energy on watching this dumb tv show and flirting with Lux as obnoxiously as she could to annoy Janna.

-

Sylas was honestly surprised when he realized how many mages were at this school, the people roaming the halls just radiating with their potential. Sure, most people had a little bit in them, hidden away so well they didn’t even realize it, but the powerful magic among these students was like a buffet for him. A handful of the staff even had some leaking out, with Sylas taking special note of one teacher who was practically screaming out with his magic, so bright it hurt even from down the hall. He had tried to talk to the man earlier, but only received a glare and an angry stroke of his beard from him. A powerful mage, sure, but not someone friendly who would hear him out so soon. Sylas still needed him as an ally, but he’d wait for now. He had gotten good at waiting these past few years.

Plus, with all the magic stored in the student body, he wouldn’t need to pursue anyone in the staff for a while. These were teenagers, angry and impressionable, perfect for his revolution. He had been tracking the ones he found with the most potential, brushing past them in the halls with practiced ease to get a feel for what their magic could do. A few students checked, and he definitely liked what he felt. So much so that, after only a week of scouting out mages, he already had enough to call a full meeting. Today was the first official one, planned after his little discussion/demonstration yesterday with some of the kids already dedicated to his cause.

This was the first official meeting of- according to the school- the “Theatre Club.” Sylas still isn’t sure why they’re letting their janitor with no theatre background run this club, much less be the creator of it, but he won’t question it too much out of convenience. He did have to wonder why they didn’t already have a theatre club considering the huge stage the school had, but maybe the students just didn’t care for the arts. Hopefully, it’d stay that way, since Sylas did not have an excuse ready if any non-mages tried to join. He was good at excuses, sure, but that didn’t mean he was looking for an excuse to use an excuse, so excuse him if he seemed a little on edge about the idea. 

The classroom they had been given to run the club in was definitely too small to fit every mage in the school in, but the little team he had gathered so far didn’t seem too crowded in. Most of them were sitting seats away from anyone else, and Sylas noted with some humor that it was the stronger ones of the bunch. The others were tending more toward bunching together and sitting up front. He smiled at all of them with one of his most charming looks, though it faltered slightly when he noticed an absence among the group.

“I see Miss Luxanna decided not to join us,” he mumbled, disappointment and anger souring his tone. She was vital to this, and not just for her overwhelming magic. The girl was young, powerful, and moldable, a peak candidate for his revolution, but more importantly, she had connections. The Little Light was the perfect inside source for this, and Sylas didn’t plan to let her slip away. 

Well, no point in complaining now. After all, he had a room full of other mages to commit to his- no, their cause. He stood up and prepared to speak when the door creaked open, a familiar face peering in. “Is there a problem, mister… uh?” Sylas began to ask, trailing off when he realized he really didn’t know the guy. Definitely a teacher, but he hadn’t really bothered to learn about any of them, and, well, he definitely had some magic, so maybe Sylas should look into that, and-

Rather than actually responding, the man walked into the room, laid a stack of paper on the nearest desk, then left. Not a word out of him, but there was a weird jingle following him. “That was Bard, he doesn’t talk much,” one of the girls near the back explained, rolling her eyes at his confusion. Sylas would be offended at the action if he didn’t need that girl so much, remembering the bottomless powers she seemed to hold when he had merely grazed by her. He really had to learn these kids’ names, too…

“Oh, well, uh, thank you.” Sylas cleared his throat before beginning to speak. “As you all know, everyone here is gifted in some way, with something others can merely dream about. Yes, magic, in some shape, exists in all of you, and it has the potential to be very powerful. I have handpicked each of you for an important-”

One of the kids was raising his hand, and what did that mean again? “Yes, uh, you there?” Sylas pointed to the boy raising his hand, cutting off his speech for the brief interruption.

“Aren’t you gonna look at what Bard gave you? It looks kinda big and important, ya know?” The boy was one of those punks sitting in the back, but his magic was noticeably weaker than the others around him. And yet, he spoke like he had omnipotence and omniscience. Sylas decided he might just leave this kid out of the next meeting if he was as annoying as he already seemed.

Regardless of quickly-decided personal feelings, Sylas chose to comply and looked at the package of paper. He quickly flipped through the pages, put it back down, and could feel the tendrils of regret weighing on him. He did not sign up for this. All he wanted to do was manipulate some kids into helping him overthrow the government, not… that.

A few of the students up front were trying to look at the package, those who succeeded with highly varied reactions. Shock, laughter, glee, disgust, a little bit of everything. Sylas was leaning to the disgust side, himself. “We aren’t going to… do that, are we?” one of the older students asked, her voice not even hiding how repulsive she thought the idea.

“Well… it would be a really good cover for our club,” brought up another girl. He hated how right she was in that moment, and for a second, he seriously considered doing it. It’d be the perfect cover, would draw no attention to their other club activities, but… 

“We’ll take a vote,” Sylas grumbled, silencing the students. “All in favor of putting on ‘Romeo and Juliet’ so we aren’t discovered as a sham club, please raise your hands.” Four people, more than he expected. That one annoying kid from the back was in favor of it, too. Figures.

“All against?” …Three people. There were closer to twelve people total in the club, but he had to assume the rest were indifferent. Strictly speaking, that would mean they’d do the play from this, but Sylas was not in favor of that idea. Could he even get a vote here, as the club sponsor rather than a member? He wasn’t really sure how this stuff worked, actually. Maybe he could just ask?

He looked at all the bright young faces watching him and awaiting his final call, then he decided not to ask any of them. Not that he didn’t think they’d answer, he just… didn’t like most of them that seemed like they would. “Okay, that’s 4 to 3 in favor of putting on the play. I’m going to assume the rest of you just don’t care. So… play, then?” A collective groan was his response, and Sylas readily agreed with them. He didn’t know how to explain to the staff that the theatre club wouldn’t do theatre, though. Not without them looking into it, anyway.

“Well, I guess we’re putting off the revolution for a bit, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was picturing sailor moon as the tv show, if you were wondering.


	4. Magic is Great for Makeovers!

Two doors away from an illegal gathering of mages disguised as play practice was a seldom-used classroom, the door firmly locked every day of the week after school. At least, that’s what most people think.

On this particular Monday, the door had been unlocked for just enough time for two people to slip inside before being locked back. It was a ritual for them at this point, sneaking into the unused classroom on random days (but never more than once a week). After they were sure no one else could get in, covering any windows and hiding any other evidence that someone was inside, they got to work.

First, move the desks just enough to have open space to move around in. Too much, and it wouldn’t look the same when they put everything back. Too little, there wouldn’t be room for their activities. Second, double-check no one is in the nearby classes to avoid any unwanted trouble. They couldn’t be too safe with this, and both of them understood that. Third, they would fight.

Before they could move on to step three, their thorough observation of step two stopped them. With one ear pressed against the leftmost wall, one of the girls called out, “Sarah, listen to this,” beckoning over the other.

Sarah complied, pushing against the wall as she turned her ear to it. “...Voices? I think a club was meeting today, but I’m not sure which. You think they’ll hear us?”

“No, no. Listen closely, Sarah. What they are saying.” 

The room went silent as Sarah focused all her attention on the distant club meeting. The person speaking, it sounded like an older man, was fairly loud. His words were slightly muffled, but what she could hear made his meaning obvious. “Mages…?”

“Mages, oui! What should we do about them?” The girl’s tone was harsh and cold, but her eyes reflected a brief flash of fear. Sarah wasn’t sure if it was fear of or for the mages, and she’d never get a straight answer from the girl.

“Fiora… let’s not worry about them now. We’re here for you, remember?” Sarah laid a hand on Fiora’s shoulder, her voice soft. Her expression was stern, though, revealing she wouldn’t take a refusal without a fight. 

“...Fine. But I will not let them-!”

“Yes, yes, we will stop them as soon as they try anything. But don’t you think this way holds a certain advantage? After all, if we’re the only ones who know, we’re the only ones who can stop them.” As Sarah spoke, she gently gestured around the room. The implications of her words were clear to Fiora. If they were the ones to discover the mages’ plot and stop it, they would be heroes. And no one could refute a hero what they wanted, right?

She nodded in agreement with Sarah’s point. “I suppose. Let us focus on our blades for now. I’d hate to waste what little time we have together just for some lowly mages, after all.” Moving from the wall, Fiora reached under a slightly shifted bookcase, retrieving two finely-sharpened rapiers. She tossed one to Sarah, the girl catching it with practiced ease.

“En garde, then.”

-

Two young girls left their club meeting just as the clock struck 5 pm. Behind them, a collection of dispassionate youths gathered their things as a scruffy older man yelled out to not miss next week’s meeting. 

“So, what can you do?” one of the girls asked, turning to the other. She glanced around nervously before whispering, “You know, with your… magic.”

“What can I do? I can make,” the other girl paused for a second, balling up her hands, before, “sparkles!” On cue, a bright ball of pure glitter and sparkles appeared before them. It fizzled out after a few seconds, leaving no evidence it was ever there.

The two of them laughed in glee at the magic. “That’s amazing! All I can do is move rocks and stuff. My name’s Taliyah, by the way.”

“I’m Zoe! Do you wanna be friends? Wait, no, best friends?”

“Sure,” Taliyah agreed, a warm smile on her face. The two shook hands to seal the deal, confirming their new status as best friends. Wow, Taliyah hadn’t had a best friend before…

Wait, were best friends different from regular friends? Like, were there any special rules or anything? “Uh, Zoe? What’s the difference between friends and best friends?”

The shorter girl paused in her skipping, considering the question. She bounced up after a second, her eyes sparkling as she answered, “Best friends tell each other secrets and play games together and talk about their crushes and get each other gifts! Friends probably don’t do all of that.”

“Oh! So, if I, say, don’t tell you who I have a crush on, it makes us friends instead of best friends?”

“Pretty much!” The two continued through the school, both about to head home. As they reached the door to leave, Zoe turned to her new best friend, leaning close to her before asking, “So… who is it?”

Taliyah jumped at the question. “H-Huh? Who’s who? My crush?”

“Well, duh. You’ve gotta have one, right?” Taliyah’s face reddened and she took a great deal of interest in her backpack straps, focusing on them instead of Zoe. She may have had a small one, but it wasn’t like it counted when she wouldn’t even have a chance with him. 

Taliyah prepared to deny the question, deciding her crush probably didn’t count, when her bestie screeched out, “Wait, I’ve got an idea! Come over to my house, and we can play games and stuff. Oh! Oh, we could have a sleepover, too!”

Huh? “Um, okay? Let me just call and ask my parents first. And I should probably go home to get my stuff. Oh, and then I need to finish tonight’s homework, and-”

“Great! See you then,” Zoe said, already skipping off to go home. Were all best friends this energetic? ...Wait, where did Zoe even live?

-

Well, it took two hours and Taliyah realizing that Zoe (somehow) put her contact info into her phone, but she eventually made it to her bestie’s house. She expected having to argue for this with her parents more, but they seemed happy she was making friends. Her first best friend of freshman year was, apparently, celebratory news. 

Taliyah wasn’t super popular back in middle school, for a variety of reasons, but was her having a friend really such a special occasion? Well, at least it meant she could bask in friendship tonight. Arriving at Zoe’s house, she walked up to the door.

It was a nice, quiet home on the good side of town, a beautiful flower garden decorating the front yard. As she stood outside the house, Taliyah also noted a sweet smell surrounding it. Between the honeyed scent of the flowers and something cinnamony she couldn’t quite place, it was heavenly. She knocked on the door.

The person opened the door so fast she was sure they were waiting there, but it wasn’t Zoe who greeted her. “Oh, hello! My name’s Taliyah. You are, uh, very tall.” Wait, no, why did she say that? 

Taliyah buried her face into her hands, letting out a groan. She wasn’t wrong, though. The man before her was at least 6 and a half feet, towering above her. Which said a lot, seeing as how Taliyah was one of the tallest girls she knew. He had a thick beard, several spiraling tattoos on his arms, and seemed to be the source of that cinnamon smell.

“A pleasure to meet you, Taliyah. Are you a friend of Zoe’s?” As he spoke, he stepped aside, gesturing for her to enter. She tentatively went in, looking around the house. It was about as clean and pretty as the outside, peaceful and artfully decorated.

“Yes, is she here? She invited me to, uh, spend the night.” Taliyah shook her bag full of clothes and various other items at that, showing she came prepared. The man- was this Zoe’s dad or something?- barked out a laugh.

He went up to a set of stairs and called out, “Zoe, a girl is here to see you!” No reply.

“Zoe?” he called out, starting to walk up the stairs. Then, suddenly, he paused. Taliyah felt herself stiffen as tension began to radiate from the man. He let out a curse before bolting down a hall, leaving Taliyah behind as he ran through the house.

She heard something slam shut, followed by a few angry shouts. A minute later, the man walked back out, carrying a familiar face. Zoe was being held up by the collar of her shirt, a pastry sticking from her mouth. Once they got closer, she noticed Taliyah and started to furiously wave with both hands. 

The man dropped Zoe on a white couch before turning to Taliyah, completely calm and with a polite smile on his face. “My apologies for storming off earlier, I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything. You two have fun!”

Taliyah waited until he had disappeared back to where he got Zoe from, presumably returning to the kitchen. Then, she turned to her best friend. “What was that about?”

“Ugh, he’s just upset I got the first pastry. That was Atreus, by the way. He’s… kinda like my brother? He runs a bakery downtown, you should go some time.”

“Brother? Oh, I thought he’d be your dad or something.” Zoe responded to that statement with a lot of laughter. Like, a lot. Taliyah thought she might be dying or something, disregarding breathing in favor of mad giggling.

Still laughing, Zoe responded, “Atreus… as my dad? You’re funny, bestie. Anyway, welcome to my house! Come on, I'll show you my room.” She trotted up the stairs, looking back every few steps to make sure Taliyah was following. 

As she headed up the stairs, Taliyah took a second to look around. The house was surprisingly big, but not immodest, with a good bit of decoration scattered around. There were a lot of space-themed items- a big sun and moon motif- and a few of those tacky inspirational quote wall art designs. Most of the furniture was white and gold, giving everything this classy, regal vibe. It was nice, but one thing was certain: Zoe had no part in decorating, at all.

This thought was further cemented as soon as Taliyah entered Zoe’s room, the door already warning her of what was to come with various colorful stickers outside of it. Once she stepped in, it was like a completely new world from the rest of the home. “Oh! Your room is very… sparkly?”

“Isn’t it awesome? Atreus even let me use glitter paint on the walls! I didn’t even know they made glitter paint before then!” 

“It suits you! My room is a lot more, uh, plain than this.” Was Taliyah supposed to have a room this loud? She didn’t have much reference for how other girls decorated, but this seemed a little too much. It really did just scream out “Zoe”, though.

The walls sparkled in the colors of a sunset, various posters and stickers covering them wherever there was room. The ceiling was a bright blue and covered in little, glowing stars, and the floor, while plain, was buried in scattered clothes and a few brightly-colored rugs. Every empty surface was overrun with knick-knacks and photos and toys, and every. single. thing. was ridiculously glittery.

Taliyah found a particularly unsettling stuffed animal on a bookshelf hosting very little actual books, staring into its disproportionately large eyes too deeply to notice when Zoe brought out a board game. After about two minutes of examining it, during which Zoe set up the game, Taliyah decided it was sorta cute and turned back to her bestie.

“Oh, what’s that? Is it a game?” she asked, looking around for a box to indicate what it was.

“Yup! I got it about a year ago and haven’t had anyone to play with… So, you can be the first. It’s called Girl Talk, here are the rules,” Zoe explained, handing off a little packet with a basic overview of the game. It sounded like something teen girls would play in a movie or something. 

Taliyah was hesitant, but the game sounded fun enough. Just draw a card and do the prompt until you do enough to win, right? ...Was this really what girls did at sleepovers, or was Zoe just like that? 

“Oh, and once we finish, we could paint each others’ nails! And do our hair and makeup and stuff! It’ll be so sweet!” As she spoke, Zoe’s exclamations got louder and louder until she practically shouted out the last word. Suddenly, she froze and looked back at Taliyah. “Wait, are you hungry? Hang on, I can get you a pastry!”

Before Taliyah could answer, Zoe walked to the door, stepped outside, then stepped back inside not even a minute later, pastry in hand. “Here you go, bestie! These are to sell, so I had to be fast to get one. Enjoy!”

Zoe tossed the pastry over, its sugary coating immediately rubbing off onto Taliyah’s hands. “Um, thank you. That was definitely fast.” She tried a bite of it. It was divine. “Wow, what was the name of that bakery again? This is super good.”

“Pantheon’s Pastries! And it was fast, but I can’t do that much more. Atreus says it’s ‘bad for the fabric of space and time’ or something like that. But, he also says sweets past 8 are bad for me, so what does he know?”

“...But he’s not wrong? Also, uh. What exactly did you do to get this for me?” Taliyah asked, spacing out her words in between pastry bites. Seriously, there had to be some kind of magic in this thing. No one could make sugared bread taste this good.

Zoe smirked before turning around, hiding something as she messed around with it. A little zwap sounded, and the next thing she knew, Taliyah had an unattached hand taking her snack away. “Hey!” she exclaimed, pulling it back before she fully processed what she was seeing. Faltering slightly, Taliyah made sure she had a solid grasp on her pastry before acknowledging Zoe’s separated hand.

“You can make… portals. You used a portal to get me this pastry, and you just used one to try and take it. Huh.”

“Yupperoni! The portals only stay open for a few minutes at most, though, unless I focus super-duper hard. I usually don’t, though! Anyway, now that you’ve got your snack, who’s going first in girl talk?” Zoe sat down on one of her various rugs, picking a fuzzy, heart-shaped one that had the board game set out right before it. Right, she almost forgot the game.

Okay, so Zoe could create portals and sparkles, and Taliyah could, well, move rocks. Zoe had a room coated in glitter and girly things, and Taliyah had beige walls and maybe three photos in her room. Zoe had long, pretty hair and nails she liked to paint, Taliyah had thick, matted hair and dirt under her fingernails. Zoe was tiny and cute, and Taliyah was tall and-

“Hey, do you wanna do our hair and nails first? I wanna try this style that I think would look soooo cute on you!” Zoe asked, interrupting Taliyah’s thoughts. Cute?

“You think I’m cute?”

“Yeah! Now, what color?” Zoe said, moving on as she laid out at least twenty different bottles of nail polish- when did she get those, actually? Wait, no, magic probably. The colors didn’t vary much from the purple, orange, pink, and blue theme she had everywhere, but it was still a decent variety. Guess Taliyah was going along with this, then.

She was immediately drawn to the blue and purple ones, their cool tones matching the navy shirt she had on. Taliyah settled on an indigo bottle, one of the few not covered in glitter, and held it out to Zoe. “Is this one okay?”

Zoe nodded enthusiastically, taking the bottle and dragging Taliyah over to a slightly cleared off table before beginning the process of painting her nails. “Can I clean and clip these while we’re at it, bestie?” she asked, holding up a pair of nail clippers excitedly.

“Uh, sure. Knock yourself out.” As soon as the words left Taliyah’s mouth, her friend got to work. She picked away dirt and methodically cut each nail until they were all uniform and clean. Taliyah took a moment to admire how nice each one looked before they were painted over to be bright indigo. 

As Zoe worked, she hummed out a song, its rhythm repeating until, eventually, Taliyah caught on and joined her in humming it. Relaxing and singing a random tune with her new friend, getting a makeover at a sleepover, it just seemed so… genuine. “This is nice,” Taliyah sighed out, receiving a hum of agreement from Zoe.

“And… done,” Zoe finally said, capping the bottle after painting the last nail. It only took about ten minutes altogether, and the final product was lovely. “I, uh, may have used some magic to dry them, too, by the way,” she admitted, tapping cleanly on the nails to demonstrate.

“Thank you, Zoe. Should I paint yours, or-?” Taliyah asked, admiring her hands. It came out nice, better than she expected it to look. 

“Oh, no, that’s fine! I wanna give you the makeover. I’d give you one of my outfits, but I don’t think you’d fit… Wait, I have an idea! Don’t move!” Before Taliyah could reply, Zoe bolted out of the room and down the hall. She heard a door creak open, at least telling her the girl wasn’t teleporting this time. Taliyah kept looking at her nails as she waited for her friend’s return, only vaguely curious about what she was getting in the other room.

A few minutes later, Zoe returned with a long dress hanging on her arm. “Here! I borrowed this from Soraka, you can try it on.”

“Soraka? It’s not just you and Atreus here?”

“Huh? No, not at all! We’re all kinda like siblings, but Soraka’s the oldest so she usually acts like the mom. There was also Diana and Leona, but they didn't exactly get along so they moved out. Taric left to see the world or something like that, and, well… Huh, I guess it’s just me, Atreus, and Soraka now. Oh, and our dog, Aurelion! He’s pretty aggressive, though, so we keep him in the backyard. You can meet him later.” 

As Zoe spoke, she laid out the dress on her bed, brushing out any wrinkles before turning away to dig through a jewelry box balanced on the edge of her dresser. The dress immediately stood out as something formal and expensive, its dark blue material glistening under the light. It looked silky and smooth, with a layer of tulle on top that was decked out in glitter and stars. Taliyah felt like she was star-gazing just looking at it, and also that it would take all her savings to ever own something like it.

"Here we go!" Zoe shouted, bringing out a variety of hair accessories. "Okay, you should probably put on the dress before I do your hair."

"Are you sure I can, uh, wear this? Um, Soraka won't mind?" Taliyah reached out tentatively to feel the dress as she spoke, confirming that the bottom layer was some kind of silk. It felt more appropriate for a ball or something...

Zoe waved off Taliyah's concerns, lightly pushing her toward the dress. "Yeah, don't worry about it! Soraka's at work right now, anyway, and she never minds sharing stuff. Plus, you would look so pretty in this dress! Now, go change, bestie!"

She wanted to argue more, but Zoe refused to listen to any complaints. Well, that only left one option. Taliyah picked up the dress and slipped into what she was assuming was the closet, its door barely closing behind the mess of clothes scattered on the ground. Once alone, she carefully put on the dress, afraid to so much as slightly stretch the sleeves.

It hung a few inches short of floor-length and sagged over where she lacked any curves, but where it did fit right, it draped like she had been personally tailored to the night sky. Taliyah tried out a few spins, entranced by how the material flew out with each movement. She nearly tripped over a stray pile of clothes on the third spin before deciding it might be best to leave the cramped closet.

As soon as Taliyah stepped back out, Zoe let out a sharp gasp. "Wow, I was right! You look amazing, bestie!" 

Zoe ran up to her, grabbing her hands and spinning her around, watching with enchantment as the dress flared out. "Oh my gosh! I can never fit into Soraka's clothes, I'm so jealous!"

She crossed her arms with a small pout, but her eyes were still gleaming with admiration as she watched her bestie. Taliyah felt a warmth fill her chest at the compliments, suddenly feeling prettier than she ever had before.

"Okay, now I'll do your hair! Stay still," Zoe commanded, not wasting a breath as she immediately began pinning down her friend's hair. She had a considerable pile of hair clips and accessories by her, cycling them in and out to see which looked best. After a few different combinations of clips and bows, Zoe leaned back and admired her work.

"Perfect!" she sang out, jumping back and dragging Taliyah to the nearest mirror. Taliyah yelped at the sudden movement, prepared to drag her hand away when the sight in the mirror stopped her.

Wow... she couldn't remember looking so styled before. Zoe had ridiculously long hair that was still well-maintained, so it figures she'd know how to style hair, but Taliyah didn't expect her to do it so well. Her bangs were brushed to the side with the rest of her hair pinned back to meet behind her head, held there by a silky bow that looked to match the color of the dress. 

Did Zoe use her magic on this, actually? Taliyah noticed how her hair and skin sparkled, deciding it was extremely likely that Zoe would do that for a simple makeover. She may have not known the girl for long, but using magic just to make her skin sparkly seemed likely for her.

Regardless, Taliyah felt that warmth well in her chest once more, feeling almost proud of her appearance. "Thank you, Zoe. It looks amazing," she said, turning to her friend. Zoe blushed at the compliment, running her fingers through her hair as she replied.

"Yeah, it was nothing! Thanks for, uh, letting me do that, though. I've always wanted to try giving someone a makeover. Anyway, ready to play some board games?"

Taliyah smiled until it hurt her cheeks as she joined Zoe in their game, still careful to keep the dress clean and unwrinkled. Watching her friend reach into a portal and pull out another two pastries, followed by an angry shout from downstairs, Taliyah had an idea.

"After this, would you like to go rock surfing?" Taliyah asked, ideas for the game already forming in her mind.

Zoe's response was immediate, her face lighting up like the break of dawn. "I would love to!" she shouted as she tossed one of the pastries to Taliyah. Two young girls with a world of magic at their command... This was the start of a beautiful friendship, no doubt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember how i said lux wouldn't be the focus for too long? she's still probably the most important character and we will get back to her soon, but time to introduce several side plots! and yes, fiora and mf are dating. tbh this was mostly just me wanting to write some of my fav characters into this but my story, my rules, baby! i also rlly wanna make xerath a major character bc hes my emotional support evil bastard but i don't wanna add too many diff plot points... we'll see ig


End file.
